Reading

Reading is a historic university and minster town in Berkshire, England. It was first a Roman trading post, and the Anglo-Saxons named the town Readingum during the 8th century; it was named for the Readingas tribe. On 4 January 871, the Battle of Reading was fought between the Danish Vikings and the army of King Aethelred of Wessex, and it resulted in a Viking victory. In late 871, the Danes abandoned Reading when they retreated to their winter quarters in London. By 1086, Reading was a borough of Norman England, and King Henry I of England founded Reading Abbey in 1121. The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but, by then, Reading was the largest town in Berkshire. By 1611, Reading had over 5,000 residents, and it had grown rich from the cloth trade. In 1643, during the English Civil War, the Parliamentarians took Reading by siege, and it was the site of a skirmish between Prince William of Orange and King James II of England on 9 December 1688; the battle forced James to flee to France and allow for William to become "King William III". During the 18th century, an iron works was built in the town, and the construction of turnpike roads led to Reading becoming a major location along the coaching routes from London to Oxford and the West Country. During the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, Reading became a manufacturing center, and it expanded due to the construction of the railroads from the 1840s to 1850s. Reading suffered little damage during The Blitz, and it became one of the largest non-city-status urban areas in the United Kingdom. In 2018, Reading had a population of 230,046 people.